Eden Project (England)
Eden Project is a popular
visitor attraction in Cornwall, England. Inside the two biomes are plants that
are collected from many diverse climates and environments. The project is
located in a reclaimed Kaolinite pit, located 2 km (1.2 mi) from the town of St
Blazey and 5 km (3 mi) from the larger town of St Austell, Cornwall.
The complex is dominated by two huge enclosures consisting of adjoining
domes that house thousands of plant species, and each enclosure emulates a
natural biome. The biomes consist of hundreds of hexagonal and pentagonal,
inflated, plastic cells supported by steel frames. The largest of the two
biomes simulates a Rainforest environment and the second, a Mediterranean
environment. The attraction also has an outside botanical garden which is home
to many plants and wildlife native to Cornwall and the UK in general; it also
has many plants that provide an important and interesting backstory, for
example, those with a prehistoric heritage.
Design and construction
The project was conceived by Tim Smit and designed by architect
Nicholas Grimshaw and engineering firm Anthony Hunt and Associates (now part of
Sinclair Knight Merz). Davis Langdon carried out the project management, Sir
Robert McAlpine and Alfred McAlpine did the construction, MERO designed and
built the biomes, and Arup was the services engineer, economic consultant,
environmental engineer and transportation engineer. Land use consultants led
the masterplan and landscape design. The project took 2½ years to construct and
opened to the public on 17 March 2001.
Layout The Bee
Once into the attraction, there is a meandering path with views of the
two biomes, planted landscapes, including vegetable gardens, and sculptures
that include a giant bee and The WEEE Man, a towering figure made from old
electrical appliances and is meant to represent the average electrical waste
used by one person in a lifetime.
At the bottom of the pit are two covered biomes:
The Tropical Biome, covers 1.56 ha (3.9 acres) and measures 55 m (180
ft) high, 100 m (328 ft) wide, and 200 m (656 ft) long. It is used for tropical
plants, such as fruiting banana plants, coffee, rubber and giant bamboo, and is
kept at a tropical temperature and moisture level.
The Tropical Biome
The Mediterranean Biome covers 0.654 ha (1.6 acres) and measures 35 m
(115 ft) high, 65 m (213 ft) wide, and 135 m (443 ft) long. It houses familiar
warm temperate and arid plants such as olives and grape vines and various
sculptures.
The Outdoor Gardens represent the temperate regions of the world with
plants such as tea, lavender, hops, hemp and sunflowers, as well as local plant
species.
The ETFE technology was supplied and installed by the firm Vector
Foiltec, which is also responsible for ongoing maintenance of the cladding. The
steel spaceframe and cladding package (with Vector Foiltec as ETFE
subcontractor) was designed, supplied and installed by MERO (UK) PLC, who also
jointly developed the overall scheme geometry with the architect, Nicholas
Grimshaw & Partners.
The Core
The Core is the latest addition to the site and opened in September
2005. It provides the Eden Project with an education facility, incorporating
classrooms and exhibition spaces designed to help communicate Eden's central
message about the relationship between people and plants. Accordingly, the
building has taken its inspiration from plants, most noticeable in the form of
the soaring timber roof, which gives the building its distinctive shape.
Grimshaw developed the geometry of the copper-clad roof in
collaboration with a sculptor, Peter Randall-Page, and Mike Purvis of
structural engineers SKM Anthony Hunts. It is derived from phyllotaxis, which
is the mathematical basis for nearly all plant growth; the "opposing
spirals" found in many plants such as the seeds in a sunflower's head,
pine cones and pineapples. The copper was obtained from traceable sources, and
the Eden Project is working with Rio Tinto Group to explore the possibility of
encouraging further traceable supply routes for metals, which would enable
users to avoid metals mined unethically. The services and acoustic, mechanical
and electrical engineering design was carried out by Buro Happold.
Art at The Core
The Core is also home to art exhibitions throughout the year. A
permanent installation entitled Seed, by Peter Randall-Page, occupies the
anteroom. Seed is a large, egg-shaped stone installation displaying a complex
pattern of protrusions that are based upon the geometric and mathematical
principles that underlie plant growth.
The domes provide diverse growing conditions, and many plants are on
display.
The Eden Project includes environmental education focusing on the interdependence
of plants and people; plants are labelled with their medicinal uses. The
massive amounts of water required to create the humid conditions of the
Tropical Biome, and to serve the toilet facilities, are all sanitised rain
water that would otherwise collect at the bottom of the quarry. The only mains
water used is for hand washing and for cooking. The complex also uses Green
Tariff Electricity – the energy comes from one of the many wind turbines in
Cornwall, which were among the first in Europe.
Controversially, one of the companies the Eden Project currently
partners with is the British mining company Rio Tinto Group.[not in citation
given]
In December 2010 the Eden Project received permission to build a
geothermal electricity plant which will generate approx 4MWe, enough to supply
Eden and about 5000 households.
History
Driftwood sculpture of a horse by Heather Jansch, from the main
entrance
Eden Project sculpture Made from the detritus of modern living—the
teeth are computer mice
Eve, by Sue and Pete Hill, shaped from the soil
The clay pit in which the project is sited was in use for over 160
years. In 1981, the pit was used by the BBC as the planet surface of Magrathea
in the 1981 TV series of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. By the mid-1990s
the pit was all but exhausted.
The initial idea for the project dates back to 1996, with construction
beginning in 1998. The work was hampered by torrential rain in the first few
months of the project, and parts of the pit flooded as it sits 15 m (49 ft)
below the water table.
The first part of the Eden Project, the visitor centre, opened to the
public in May 2000. The first plants began arriving in September of that year,
and the full site opened on 17 March 2001.
The Eden Project was used as a filming location for the 2002 James Bond
film, Die Another Day (starring Pierce Brosnan). On 2 July 2005 The Eden
Project hosted the "Africa Calling" concert of the Live 8 concert
series. It has also provided some plants for the British Museum's Africa
garden.
In 2005, the Project launched "A Time of Gifts" for the
winter months, November to February. This features an ice rink covering the
lake, with a small café/bar attached, as well as a Christmas market. Cornish
choirs regularly perform in the biomes.
On 6 December 2007, the Eden Project invited people all over Cornwall
to try to break the world record for the biggest ever pub quiz as part of its
campaign to bring £50 million of lottery funds to Cornwall.
In December 2007, the project failed in its bid for £50 million of
funding, after the Big Lottery Fund popular vote, when it received just 12.07%
of the votes, the lowest for the four projects being considered. Eden wanted
the money for Edge, a proposed desert biome that was going to look at people
and plants living on the edge today and the solutions that they have come up
with to the challenge of living within limits.
In December 2009, much of the project, including both greenhouses,
became available to navigate through Google Street View.
The Eden Trust revealed a trading loss of £1.3 million for 2012-13, on
a turnover of £25.4 million. The Eden Project had posted a surplus of £136,000
for the previous year. In 2014 Eden accounts showed a surplus of £2 million.
The World Pasty Championships have been held at the Eden Project since
2012, an international competition to find the best Cornish pasties and other
pasty-type savoury snacks. The Eden Project is said to have contributed over £1
billion to the Cornish economy.
The Eden Project received 1,000,363 visitors in 2016
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